COVER STORY
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
BOARD CHAIRMAN
ABBY TAYLOR-SILVA Abby Taylor-Silva (45) joined CALF as executive vice president in November 2020. She comes to the foundation after 10 years as vice president of policy and communications for the Grower-Shipper Association of Central California. Her experience also includes five years as executive director of Ag Against Hunger.
MIKE YOUNG The CALF board of directors recently appointed Michael Young to serve as its new chairman. He is principal of Wegis & Young, a diversified farming operation which grows a variety of tree and row crops and manages agricultural property for individual and institutional investors.
“We are extremely pleased to have Abby join our new leadership team,” said Young. “She is a true servant leader who will help move the foundation forward through these uncertain times.”
“Ag Leadership’s future is bright, and its trajectory is on the right path,” said Young. “We look forward to having COVID restrictions lifted so we can gather as CALF family and properly introduce you all to our new leadership team, while coming together to share what makes California Ag Leadership so special.”
In the newly created role, Taylor-Silva will be applying her industry and alumni experiences to advance the foundation’s mission. “Abby is well known and respected in California agriculture and will bring many talents to her position as she helps us realize our program goals,” said Ferguson. Taylor-Silva is a native of Monterey and San Benito counties and serves on the boards of the Salinas Rotary Club and the Community Foundation for Monterey County. She has been recognized as Salinas Jaycees’ Young Farmer of the Year; California Assembly District 30 Woman of the Year; and Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito counties’ Ag Woman of the Year. She has also received the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce Ag Leadership Award, Star Young Farmers & Ranchers Award and Produce Business 40-Under-40 Award. “I am delighted to join this team,” said Taylor-Silva. “The foundation made a distinctive and long-lasting impact on my personal and professional development, providing me with tools, perspective and an awareness-of-self that directly impacted my ability to effectively lead in various capacities. I look forward to the opportunity to build upon this extraordinary program, serve the foundation and support the next generation of California agricultural leaders.” Taylor-Silva earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science with a minor in agricultural and managerial economics from UC Davis. She lives in Salinas with her husband Paul and their daughters Olivia and Noelle.
Young has given much of his time and talent to CALF. His leadership of the Alumni Council played a key role in developing new tools to create committees, encourage volunteerism, organize annual events and recruit new directors. In 2015, he received Ag Leadership’s Profiles in Leadership Award. He has been involved with the Kern County Farm Bureau, California Farm Bureau Federation, Kern Citizens for Sustainable Government, San Joaquin Valley Young Presidents Organization, Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce, Youth Leadership Bakersfield, California Cotton Growers Association, Kern County Fair Board, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Bakersfield Californian Editorial Board and the Quest Club. “I want to offer our most sincere gratitude to Barry Bedwell (13) and Jeff Elder (35) for their leadership of this organization for the last five years,” said Young. “Under them, our endowment has continued to grow, new partners have been cultivated and the program’s stature has risen.” Young studied business and finance at the University of the Pacific. He lives in Bakersfield with his wife, Jennifer, and their three children, Emma, Halle and Jacob.
7 FALL 2020 HORIZONS MAGAZINE